GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Fourteen artists in the ArtPrize 2014 Final 20 are from Michigan, a significant jump from last year.
That's 70 percent of the finalists in the competition's public vote. Of those 14, six are local — three from Grand Rapids, and one each from Ada, Sparta and Spring Lake.
Percentage-wise, that matches 2012 numbers, when seven of 10 finalists, 70 percent, called Michigan home. The stats trended in the other direction in 2013, with three of 10 finalists, 30 percent, from Michigan.
The public-vote portion of ArtPrize is structured differently for 2014, with 20 finalists, five each in four categories — three-dimensional, two-dimensional, installation and time-based. One of the 20 will take home the $200,000 grand prize, and the top winner in each medium, save for the grand-prize winner, will win $20,000.
RELATED: ArtPrize 2014: Meet the 20 artists in the Jurors' Shortlist
Only one artist in the Final 20 is from outside the United States.
For the final round, voters are allowed 20 votes each, but not more than one per artist. Voting ends at 11:59 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9.
Here are the Michigan artists in the Final 20:
Jilly Barnes, Pentwater, "Engulfed in Glass," Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, three-dimensional — Barnes has loved to draw, paint and sculpt since her youth, and began using glass as a medium 18 years ago. She works at her Pentwater gallery and cabin studio, and has a degree in illustration from Kendall College of Art and Design.
Dan Heffron, Manton, "Poseidon's Paradise," The B.O.B., 3-D — The ArtPrize 2012 sixth-place finalist has been carving since he was seven years old, and uses strictly hardwood to create, in his own words, "true heirloom artistry that will last for generations."
Frits Hoendervanger, Detroit, "Autumn's Passage," Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, two-dimensional — A former graphic artist for The Grand Rapids Press and third-place ArtPrize winner in 2012, Hoendervanger's paintings hang in the Michigan Governor's mansion and former President Gerald R. Ford's private collection. He recently was commissioned to paint a mural at a new Battle Creek veteran's facility.
Kroeze Krew, Grand Rapids, "The Pond," Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, 3-D - Nicholas Kroeze is the president of Kuyper College, and previously participated in ArtPrize as a solo artist. This year, he led a team of family members - Nathan Kroeze, Nick Kroeze, Jr. and son-in-law Chet Glass - in the creation of "The Pond."
Nathan Lareau, Grand Rapids, "Urban Tumbleweed," Cathedral Square, time-based - An instructor at Aquinas College, Lareau is, in his own words, "a composer and sculptor - a musician of sound and visual space." He's an Ohio University graduate and created "Urban Tumbleweed" in 2013 during a residency at Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha, Nebraska.
Gretchyn Lauer, Grand Rapids, "Outcry," DeVos Place Convention Center, 2-D - Born in California and raised in Arizona, Lauer moved to Grand Rapids in 2012 to study piano, and currently teaches the instrument for the Piano Cottage in East Grand Rapids. Per her bio, she has no formal art training.
Dave MacKenzie, Spring Lake, "Breathe," The B.O.B., installation - The Detroit native has been working as a horticulturalist, plant-product developer and writer for 30 years. For this year's ArtPrize entry, he used his own "LiveWall system as a giant canvas, and dozens of colorful plants as the paint."
Armin Mersmann, Midland, "Gabriella," Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, 2-D - The Remscheid, Germany native is now artist in residence at Midland Center for the Arts, and has shown his work across Michigan and the United States.
Mark Middleton, Petoskey, "Perspective," The B.O.B., 2-D - Middleton was born in South Africa, and was educated in nature conservation, which reflects in his work. He has illustrated a series of books about Africa, and is self-taught.
NewD Media, Farmington, "Peralux," Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, time-based - Visual artists Gabriel Hall and Daniel Land comprise NewD. They use various forms of light sculptures and projection mapping installations, and have designed works for Rothbury's Electric Forest Festival and Movement Electronic Music Festival in Detroit.
Dominic Pangborn, Detroit, "Michigan in Motion," DeVos Place, 3-D - The graphic and fashion designer was born in Korea, and grew up in Jackson, Mich. He studied at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts.
Ryan Spencer Reed, Ludington, "Despite Similarities to Reality, This is a Work of Fiction," GRAM, installation - Photographer Reed has a history of documenting social issues, including the Sudanese diaspora - addressed in his 2012 ArtPrize entry - and the state of the American industrial revolution in Detroit.
Carol Roeda, Ada, "Color Out the Darkness," Ford Museum, time-based - Roeda owns and operates Roeda Studio, a retail store with locations in Grand Rapids' Breton Village Mall and Ann Arbor. The Salvation Army commissioned the artist for her ArtPrize 2014 piece.
Robert Shangle, Sparta, "Your Move?", Harris Building, time-based - A lifetime West Michigan resident, Shangle competed at the 2009 Living Statue World Championship in the Netherlands. His 2011 entry - including his son Jasper - earned ninth place in the ArtPrize public vote.
Artists from elsewhere in the U.S.:
Anila Quayyum Agha, Indianapolis, Indiana, "Intersections," Grand Rapids Art Museum, 3-D - Agha's piece is a wood cube, laser-cut with patterns inspired by "Islamic sacred spaces." A single bulb within the cube throws the patterns on the wall in intricate patterns. Originally from Pakistan, Agha is associate professor of drawing at Herron School of Art in Indianapolis.
Sandra Bryant, Lynden, Washington, "Into the Autumn Woods," DeVos Place Convention Center, 2-D - Bryant specializes in glass mosaics, one of which, "Return to Eden," earned ninth place in ArtPrize 2012. According to her bio, her work celebrates "the relationships between humanity and our environment, our human connections, how our experiences intertwine, our beliefs, our feelings over time and of the moment."
Liz Roberts, Delaware, Ohio, "Always Nowhere," Grand Rapids Art Museum, time-based - Roberts recently graduated from Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio with a master's degree in visual arts, and is visiting professor in the Department of Cinema at Denison University. Her films and artworks have been presented at Ann Arbor Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival and more.
Marc Sijan, Milwaukee, "Reciprocity," Grand Rapids Art Museum, 3-D - Sijan is a "hyperrealistic sculptor" creating lifelike human figures using resin and oil paint.
Kevin Sudeith, Brooklyn, New York, "Grand River Fish Petroglyph," Grand Rapids Public Museum, installation - Sudeith has been traveling the country since 2010, carving bedrock petroglyphs of local life in North Dakota, the Bay Area and Montana. He had his first solo show in New York City in 2013.
International artists:
Solo and Kojima, London, Southwark, "A Series of Handmade Japanese Paper Cut Sculptures," Ford Museum, installation - As partners, Nahoko Kojima and Shari Solo create paper cut art and work as design consultants. They have acted to establish paper cut works as sculpture. Kojima is a native of Japan and graduate of Tokyo's Kuwasawa Institute.
John Serba is film critic and entertainment reporter for MLive and The Grand Rapids Press. Email him at jserba@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter or Facebook.